Healthy Kids Product Registration Scheme (PRS)

The Healthy Kids Product Registration Scheme (PRS) is the leading food and drink registration program for school canteens. Registered products are listed in the Healthy Kids School Canteen Buyers’ Guide, which is highly regarded and used by school canteen managers to assist them to choose healthier products for their school canteen menus.

In 2019 we will publish a separate NSW Buyers’ Guide which will provide information on products meeting the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy Food and Drink Criteria. The new strategy was released in 2017, and all NSW schools have been invited to start working towards the minimum Benchmark. The NSW Buyers’ Guide will list products as Everyday or Occasional using the Food and Drink Benchmark criteria based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines and Health Star Rating (HSR). In keeping with the Healthy Kids Association mission, a higher standard is used to register products in NSW. Registered products must have a HSR of 3.5 stars or more. The NSW Buyers’ Guide will be printed and sent to all NSW schools for the beginning of Term 1, 2019.

For more information on the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy and how manufacturers and distributors can help implement it, download this guide.

The Buyers’ Guide for ACT, NT, QLD, SA, TAS and VIC will continue to list products as GREEN or AMBER. Products are assessed against the Healthy Kids Nutrient Criteria and colour coded according to each state/territory healthy school canteen guidelines.

A PDF version of the NSW Buyers’ Guide and the ACT, NT, QLD, SA, TAS and VIC Buyers’ Guide will be available to view and download at the Healthy Kids website.

Healthy Kids Product Registration offers companies a wide variety of marketing opportunities to reach over 8,000 school canteens across Australia. Download the 2019 Product Registration Application pack for more information on the print and web advertising options available and the advertising booking form. If you’d like to advertise, please contact us.

Good news! Our PRS Application is now digitally fillable. That means you can fill out the application on your computer. Additionally, if you have a saved digital signature you won’t need to print out the application to sign it either. If you don’t have a digital signature just print out the application once it has been filled out and sign it before mailing or emailing it back to us.

To guarantee you save 10% on our casual rates for advertising, ensure you book before Wednesday 31st October. Our website advertising is currently being reviewed, so if you would like to secure your spot on our webpage please get in contact for more information.

Applications close Wednesday 31 October.

Healthy Kids welcomes your questions and are here to help in any way we can, please feel free to contact us.

Making changes to your registration

If you would like to make any changes to your application, please notify us via email.

Compliance program

As part of the Product Registration Scheme, Healthy Kids conducts an annual compliance program. See the Compliance Booklet for more information.

An official note from the Healthy School Canteens team at the NSW Department of Education:

“Further to our food industry consultation on 20 October 2016 in Parramatta, we are pleased to advise you that the updated Healthy School Canteen Strategy was released on 28 February 2017. The strategy focuses on increasing the availability of healthy food and drink options in school canteens to make the healthy choice, the easy choice.

“The updated strategy is consistent with the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines and includes the use of the Health Star rating for some packaged foods.

“The traffic light system on the former Fresh Tastes @ School strategy has been replaced. The focus of the updated strategy is on increasing ‘Everyday’ foods and meals to comprise at least ¾ of the menu and reducing ‘Occasional’ foods to no more than ¼ of the menu. Most ‘Occasional’ foods are packaged and are required to meet a Health Star Rating of 3.5 or above and also meet portion limits. ‘Everyday’ foods and drinks are not required to meet a Health Star Rating cut-off.

“Information on how to calculate the Health Star Ratings for products can be found on the Australian Government’s Health Star Rating website.

“Schools will transition to the strategy over a three-year period (2017–2019). The transition will be responsive to canteen operating arrangements, product availability, rural and remote locations and community and cultural expectations.